Amusement Rides

Miami A family favorite returns to South Florida when the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair and Exposition opens on Thursday. The 48th annual event will bring a mile-long midway featuring more than 80 amusement rides, food booths and entertainment to Tamiami Park, 10901 SW 24th St. Fair hours are from 3 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Admission prices are $7 for ages 13 and older, $5 for children ages 6-12, $5...

Organizers of the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition acted smart by acting swiftly. On Sunday, seven carnival workers were injured while testing a roller coaster. The cart they were riding in apparently fell off the tracks. Officials at the fair, along with operators of the roller coaster, the Mach I, immediately made plans to replace the ride. Their quick action was necessary. The safety of amusement rides in South Florida has come under public scrutiny and skepticism since a 2004 accident that critically injured a teenage girl at the Miami-Dade County fair.

Organizers of the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition acted smart by acting swiftly. On Sunday, seven carnival workers were injured while testing a roller coaster. The cart they were riding in apparently fell off the tracks. Officials at the fair, along with operators of the roller coaster, the Mach I, immediately made plans to replace the ride. Their quick action was necessary. The safety of amusement rides in South Florida has come under public scrutiny and skepticism since a 2004 accident that critically injured a teenage girl at the Miami-Dade County fair.

Families can learn how roller coasters, bumper cars and other rides work at the Young at Art Children's Museum in Davie. The traveling display, "Amusement Park Science," lets folks discover the principles of physics behind their favorite attractions by letting them take part in such activities as spinning on a rotating platform and creating their own roller coaster tracks. The exhibit has been well received since its arrival at the museum Oct. 16, said Sam Joseph, Young at Art's director of education.

If the circus decides to come to Cooper City, the acts have to be clean, midway games have to be fair and the food must be up to standards. The new standards are part of a proposed ordinance that would strictly regulate street fairs, arts and crafts shows, carnivals and circuses. The City Council gave tentative approval to the ordinance recently. While a large part of the ordinance pertains to carnival games, the ordinance also affects merchants. Currently, unless they are granted a special exception, store owners can`t hold sidewalk sales, arts and crafts shows or street fairs.

Opponents of an amusement park planned near a North Lauderdale church cemetery asked a judge on Tuesday to block the park, claiming the city erred in changing a zoning ordinance and failed to advertise public hearings properly. A petition filed on behalf of two residents asked Circuit Judge Arthur Birken to stop the city from allowing the construction of an amusement park near Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church on State Road 7. "We want desperately to stop the city from going any further, and we have a legal basis," said Arnold Abbott, a parishioner of the church who filed the petition along with resident Larry Price.

A mechanical bull ride was back in operation at the South Florida Fair on Thursday, even though operators could not determine why a 13-year-old boy lost the tip of his finger on the ride the day before. It was the second time in as many years that a child had lost part of a finger on a ride at the fair. The bull ride was inspected on Thursday morning by fair officials, who determined that "the ride was safe and could be used by the public," fair spokesman John Picano said. The boy, whose name was not released, was dismounting or had slipped off the ride after it had stopped when his right hand got caught in the device's hard leather glove, Picano said.

Trying to avoid a political battle, state Rep. Steve Geller on Friday said he was willing to compromise with the state agriculture commissioner on his proposal to toughen laws regulating carnival rides. Geller said he would eliminate a provision for daily ride inspections by the state and add a provision requiring Florida`s approximately 1,160 amusement rides to have annual, comprehensive testing for cracks and metal fatigue. A paint-concealed crack on an arm of the Monster ride is blamed for last month`s accident at the Broward County Fair that killed a Cooper City teen-ager and injured six other riders.

The ride was called the Samba Lolly Swing. On a busy Saturday last fall, it whirled Hollywood carnival-goers for the last time, snapping at its shaft and sending five riders crashing to the ground. Immediately after the accident, state inspectors moved in to study the cause. Ironically, their work was cut short by a state ride-safety law written nine years ago, in the wake of an eerily similar ride disaster in 1988. Today, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hear a bill designed to close the loopholes in the original amusement-ride law _ the one written in memory of Christie Schafale, a Cooper City High School senior who died on Nov. 23, 1988, when an arm of a spinning ride called The Monster broke off. The metal arm had a crack, inspectors found.

On paper, the amusement-ride inspection law passed by the Florida Legislature in response to a 1988 Broward County tragedy appears impressive enough. But in the real sawdust world of state fairs and carnivals, where undetected metal fatigue can result in sudden death, the law stands exposed as being almost as weak as a strategic crack that has been covered over with paint. In January, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government disclosed that the tightened inspection program still has significant shortcomings.

Three Mo' Tenors Victor Trent Cook, Rodrick Dixon and Thomas Young take audiences on a musical journey from Verdi's La donna mobile to a jazzy Duke Ellington tribute in this concert of opera, Broadway show tunes, blues, soul, gospel and haunting spirituals. Showtime is 8 p.m. Sunday at Jackie Gleason Theater, 1700 Washington Ave, Miami Beach. Tickets $35-$65. Call Ticketmaster. KC & the Sunshine Band and the Village People Two of the most successful '70s disco groups are ready to party.

A mechanical bull ride was back in operation at the South Florida Fair on Thursday, even though operators could not determine why a 13-year-old boy lost the tip of his finger on the ride the day before. It was the second time in as many years that a child had lost part of a finger on a ride at the fair. The bull ride was inspected on Thursday morning by fair officials, who determined that "the ride was safe and could be used by the public," fair spokesman John Picano said. The boy, whose name was not released, was dismounting or had slipped off the ride after it had stopped when his right hand got caught in the device's hard leather glove, Picano said.

Miami A family favorite returns to South Florida when the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair and Exposition opens on Thursday. The 48th annual event will bring a mile-long midway featuring more than 80 amusement rides, food booths and entertainment to Tamiami Park, 10901 SW 24th St. Fair hours are from 3 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Admission prices are $7 for ages 13 and older, $5 for children ages 6-12, $5...

The ride was called the Samba Lolly Swing. On a busy Saturday last fall, it whirled Hollywood carnival-goers for the last time, snapping at its shaft and sending five riders crashing to the ground. Immediately after the accident, state inspectors moved in to study the cause. Ironically, their work was cut short by a state ride-safety law written nine years ago, in the wake of an eerily similar ride disaster in 1988. Today, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hear a bill designed to close the loopholes in the original amusement-ride law _ the one written in memory of Christie Schafale, a Cooper City High School senior who died on Nov. 23, 1988, when an arm of a spinning ride called The Monster broke off. The metal arm had a crack, inspectors found.

On paper, the amusement-ride inspection law passed by the Florida Legislature in response to a 1988 Broward County tragedy appears impressive enough. But in the real sawdust world of state fairs and carnivals, where undetected metal fatigue can result in sudden death, the law stands exposed as being almost as weak as a strategic crack that has been covered over with paint. In January, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government disclosed that the tightened inspection program still has significant shortcomings.

"We're bonding," Dr. Judy says, hovering 100 feet off the ground while grasping one of the Skycoaster operators at Grand Prix Race-O-Rama. "This could be love." Dr. Judy Kurianski is flying through town, in this case Dania, extolling the virtues of theme parks and thrill rides and letting your body release all those good, natural chemicals like endorphins. How they can help us reduce stress in the '90s, add romance to our lives and teach us about "good fear." Her credentials are perfect for the job: Ph.D.

State officials said on Friday that a larger team of inspectors and better technical expertise might have prevented Wednesday`s fatal accident at the Broward County Fair. Wally Rich, director of the state Bureau of Fairs and Expositions, said inspectors likely would have noticed a paint-covered crack that caused a 13- year-old ride called "The Monster" to collapse had the ride been thoroughly X-rayed. The ride had been X-rayed in places -- but not on the arm that broke off -- on Sept.

Two Florida legislators are proposing changes that would toughen state laws governing midway-ride inspections in the wake of last week`s fatal accident at the Broward County Fair. Meanwhile, the insurance company representing the midway operator involved in the accident said on Wednesday that the company`s tests would not destroy the ride, called the "Monster." Federal officials then would be able to examine the ride`s broken arm, said David Miller of Crawford & Co. of Oakland Park, the insurer.

Opponents of an amusement park planned near a North Lauderdale church cemetery asked a judge on Tuesday to block the park, claiming the city erred in changing a zoning ordinance and failed to advertise public hearings properly. A petition filed on behalf of two residents asked Circuit Judge Arthur Birken to stop the city from allowing the construction of an amusement park near Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church on State Road 7. "We want desperately to stop the city from going any further, and we have a legal basis," said Arnold Abbott, a parishioner of the church who filed the petition along with resident Larry Price.

Amusement rides are safer than the public gives them credit for, industry officials said on Monday. Eighty-three people in the United States died on amusement rides from 1973 to mid-1988 -- an average of five to six deaths a year, government records show. But industry officials have pointed out that the nation`s amusement rides, including those with traveling carnivals and at permanent theme parks, are operated about 3 billion times annually. "These rides are a lot safer than people take them for," said Tom Snow, who organizes a fall carnival for St. Maurice Catholic Church in Hollywood.